How to Make Your First Contribution to Open Source during HacktoberFest

May 26, 2024 | Programming

HacktoberFest is an exciting opportunity to dive into the world of open source and start making valuable contributions! Held annually from October 1st to 31st, this month-long celebration, sponsored by Digital Ocean and GitHub, encourages developers to engage with open-source projects. This guide will help you easily contribute to this mission. Excited? Let’s get started!

What is HacktoberFest?

HacktoberFest is a month-long celebration centered around open source contributions. Every year, individuals can participate by creating their very first Pull Request on GitHub. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned pro, you can join this initiative to enrich the open-source developer community. You can learn more on the official HacktoberFest website.

How to Contribute to This Project

Making your first contribution can be simplified into a few basic steps:

  • Create a simple Hello, World script in a programming language of your choice.

Getting Started

Follow these steps to make your contribution:

  1. Fork the repository by clicking the “Fork” button in the top right corner of the project page and selecting your Profile Image.
  2. Clone your forked repository to your local machine using the command: git clone .
  3. Navigate into your newly created directory and create a new branch with: git checkout -b branch-name.
  4. Make your changes by adding a Hello, World! script to the scripts directory. You can create a file named yourusername.xx, where “xx” is your file extension based on the language. For example, sbmsc.py or sbmsc.js.
  5. Commit your changes by running the following commands:
    • git add .
    • git commit -m “your commit message”
    • git push origin branch-name
  6. Create a new Pull Request from your forked repository by clicking the “New Pull Request” button at the top of your repository.
  7. Wait for your Pull Request review and merge approval.
  8. Finally, remember to star this repository for a higher chance of merge approval!

Example of a Hello, World! Script

Here’s a simple example of a Hello, World! script in Python:

print("Hello, World!")

Bonus Tasks!

Explore some obscure or new programming languages and find creative methods of outputting a Hello, World! message.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter any issues, don’t fret! Here are some troubleshooting steps you can follow:

  • Ensure you have the latest version of Git installed.
  • Double-check that you’ve forked the correct repository.
  • Verify that your branch is up to date with the main project before submitting a Pull Request.
  • Read the contribution guidelines in the repository carefully. They may contain information specific to the project.

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Helpful Links

Here are some references to help you on your journey:

Ready to jump into the world of open source? Your contribution counts, no matter how small. Happy coding!

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